Monday, 31 March 2014

I am sure you all know the song, “Come into the garden
Maud”, well today we are walking round the Bangor Walled Garden this month with
me, not Maud! It does not open to the
public until Easter however I am sure many of you know I have managed to visit
it in January and February to record what is going on in the winter and how it
changes over the months. Today, I was
fortunate to meet the head gardener Nicola who was very helpful in aiding me
with some ID and information.

This is the view through the entrance.

I am looking forward to seeing what blooms will flower under
these pansies. I will be back with the next instalement!

I rarely go into the garden without seeing Mr Robin and he
usually sings for me.

This shot was taken to show the growth on the wide Rose from the last time and in the background you can see the yellow and red stems of the Cornus plant.

Viburnum tinus

Drimys winteri variety andina

Hellebore

Crocus

Magpie

Above are the Broad Beans that I have shown you over the
last 2 months and they are doing very well.
However in the shot below is a sadder sight. These were the peas. Nicola was telling me the Doves love them and
have eaten all the shoots. She will be sowing more of them.

This bed is full of onion and garlic and are doing
well. Everything in the vegetable is
grown organically and in the summer all the produce is sold every weekend to
the public.

This is an espalier Apricot tree above and below some of the
buds are just showing.Nicola was hoping
there would not be a frost to ruin them.When the buds open, she was telling me the bees do not pollinate this
tree and she has to hand pollinate it herself. Wow! What a big job!

There is a walled garden within a walled garden and in
this section there is a greenhouse, cafe, bandstand, some beds and a large grassed area that is used in the summer for events.Last year I took a group to see Romeo and Juliet
which was performed by a touring company. I am hoping there will another play this summer.

This is a lone flower of a Geranium I found in the greenhouse.They
bring on a lot of seedlings and slips to plant out later such as these Sweet
Pea below and as I looked down to the other end of the greenhouse I wondered why
they had eggs in egg boxes!

I had to laugh at myself when I arrived at the other
end of the green house to discover, that the eggs where potatoes being
sprouted!!

Even the dogs are looked after when they come to visit
the garden.

We end our walk as we pass through this archway from one walled
garden to the other one. I hope you
enjoyed our walk with me today.

Now that I have managed to record the last 3 months, I
would like to continue to record each month until the end of the year to watch the differences over that time.

Saturday, 29 March 2014

When I was on the Isle of Wight, Eileen and I went to
see if we could find the Red Squirrels. The
I.O.W. have no Grey Squirrels, in fact if anyone sees one, they have to report
it to the authorities. It was not long
before one appeared on the ground in front of the hide however unfortunately for
us, someone had thrown nuts on the roof of the hide and that is where the
Squirrel decided to eat. It was not as
good for photographs from our point of view as the Squirrel was never totally in view. Now, grab you cuppa, put into slide mode and enjoy
this lovely animal.

There are quite a number of places to find the Red
Squirrel on the island however this Squirrel was seen at Alverstone Mead Nature
Reserve.

The small and isolated but thriving population of 3,500 red squirrels on the Isle of Wight is very important. Although a British native, the red squirrel is an endangered species.

With its familiar bushy tail and tufted ears, the red squirrel is easily recognised, yet sightings of it are increasingly rare in Britain, especially in southern England.

Its struggle for survival began in the late 1800s with the introduction of its bigger and stronger North American cousin, the grey squirrel. Grey squirrels out-compete reds for habitat and they carry the squirrelpox virus - fatal to reds. The Isle of Wight is special because it has no grey squirrels.

Red squirrels produce litters of three to four kittens
a year. They do not hibernate, but will stay in their dreys during bad weather
– although they have to come out to feed. Important food sources are hazelnuts
and seeds from native Scots pine.

They supplement their diet with nuts from other trees such
as beech and sweet chestnut, and with berries and, occasionally, fungi and
insects. The red squirrel’s life expectancy is six years but only about one in
six survives to adulthood. Cars, cats and dogs but also foxes, weasels and
larger birds, especially buzzards, spell danger.

The National Trust are also actively managing woodland to support a healthy
population of red squirrels. At Newtown and Borthwood, small areas of Hazel are
coppiced on an eight to 14 year cycle to create a varied habitat.

It is illegal to bring a Grey Squirrels into a Red
Squirrels territory. The penalty is 2
years imprisonment or £5,000 fine.

The last time I saw Red Squirrels was when I took my
grand children to the same spot and we were able to hand feed them on that
occasion. If you wish to see these
photographs, CLICK HERE.

Friday, 28 March 2014

While having my breakfast a few weeks ago I thought I
would video (through my window) the birds that came to my feeders. All winter I have had this female Blackcap and
I have enjoyed watching her in the garden.
For the previous few years there has been a male Blackcap which was
quite aggressive to some of the smaller birds however she did not seem to be
like the male. That day I only had the Sparrows (M & F), the Blackbirds (M
& F), my Collared Doves and my friendly Robin. I
have a video at the end so just sit back and join me at breakfast time.

The video can be accessed at

http://youtu.be/9jS8ezvHZVs

If the space below is black, click it and the video
will appear.

That’s all for today so I hope you enjoyed seeing the birds in my garden.

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About Me

I have retired from a medical background, from teaching a 3 year City and Guilds; and also running a Bed and Breakfast. I have taken up bird watching later in life however I became very enthusiastic from the beginning and was greatly encouraged by other bird watchers. For the past 8 years I have led a bird group in my town and have become a guest speaker on cruise shipstalking about Birds around the world. I have travelled quite a bit,in particular to Australia where one of my daughters lives. I have now as many birding friends there as at home in Northern Ireland. I love Nature and being able to share that with others of like mind. I also like photography and do my best to photograph birds although I sometimes get a bit frustrated as my zoom is just not powerful enough.

My daughter and family that were in Australia have now moved to Malawi to work and I have visited them several times as well as visiting Zambia. I.live in Northern Ireland which is part of the UK and it is a beautiful place to live however I love travelling and wil continnue to travel aslong as I am able. I would love to go to visit bloggers that I follow and they are always very welcome here in N. Ireland.